Thuringia Tourist Board – your reliable partner

Company Profile

Thuringia Tourist Board – your reliable partnerAs the official Tourism Marketing Company of the Free State of Thuringia we are promoting our region as a travel destination in Germany and world-wide. We attend national and international travel fairs and workshops, organize study trips for the press and travel trade, produce brochures and maintain an extensive web presentation (German, English, Dutch and Japanese).

We support press and travel trade with itinerary suggestions, information on travelling to and in Thuringia, group rates, tickets for events, special rates for our all-inclusive “ThüringenCard”, pictures, brochures and else.

Please feel free to contact us any time!

Welcome to Thuringia – a short introductionThuringia – the heart of Germany – is a guarantee of very special hospitality as a traditional holiday area. The region is famous for its numerous palaces and castles, beautiful landscapes, an outstandingly fine cuisine and the uncompared cultural variety.

The towns and cities of Thuringia fascinate visitors with their lovingly restored historic town centres, UNESCO World Heritage Sites plus many traditional festivals and cultural events of the highest standard. Traces of great historical personalities such as Martin Luther, J. S. Bach or J. W. von Goethe can be found almost everywhere.

The beautiful landscapes of the Thuringian Forest, UNESCO World Natural Heritage Hainich National Park or the Lake Resorts have been attracting visitors ever since. Those looking for relaxation can enjoy the Thuringian health resorts and spas with offers for beauty or medical wellness with and in nature.

As one of Germany’s most popular walking regions Thuringia offers many certified hiking trails and certified accommodation for hikers. Themed hiking trails follow in the footsteps of historic figures, such as Goethe or Luther. An excellent network of long-distance cycling trails leaves nothing to be desired for active holiday makers.

Thuringia offers many event highlights throughout the year. A joint exhibition "Cranach in Thuringia 2015 - Art and Message" will be celebrated at Wartburg Castle Eisenach, Friedenstein Castle Gotha and Schiller Museum Weimar in 2015 as part of the LutherDecade until 2017. Also, a State exhibition "The Ernestines" will take place in Gotha and Weimar in 2016. The very same year, National Nature Landscapes will be of special focus. In 2019, Thuringia celebrates "100 years of the Bauhaus" with special events.

Brands / Products / Services

ThüringenCard – Free time. Free admission.Hold in one hand the great variety that Thuringia has to offer – this can only be done with the ThüringenCard. More than 200 destinations and attractions, ranging from historic stately homes, fascinating museums, romantic castles and guided sightseeing tours through to relaxing thermal baths, stand for an inexpensive, uncomplicated and unforgettable leisure experience. With the Card you have free admission to all partners.

Everyone who buys the Card is also given a free copy of the attractive MERIAN live! ThüringenCard Guide with detailed information on all the partners. Information on opening times and events, suggestions for tourist routes and a Thuringian atlas make planning much easier. And the normal admission charges are shown too, so that you can see at a glance how much you are saving with the ThüringenCard.

Sales of the Card through tour operators and agents are subject to a commission of 15 % on the relevant Card price. Cards will be sent to the tour operator as required or lodged directly at the hotel when booked.

Validity & prices24 h – valid for 24 h following first useadults: € 16.00 / children: € 11.003 in 365 – valid for 3 freely selectable days within the calendar year adults: € 36.00 / children: € 23.006 in 365 – valid for 6 freely selectable days within the calendar yearadults: € 56.00 / children: € 34.00The children’s prices apply to children between 5 and 14 years of age in association with an adult card. Children under the age of 5 receive the ThüringenCard free.

Cultural Highlights

Cultural Highlights and city breaksAn enormous variety in the arts and cultural life awaits the visitor to the towns and cities of Thuringia. Half-timbered houses, Royal palaces and sights without number are evidence of the sheer wealth of the history of this area. This history is closely linked with the lives and works of the most important representatives of German cultural and intellectual life. Museums, theatres, exhibitions and concert halls invite you to encounters with the works of J. W. Goethe and Friedrich Schiller, of the composers J. S. Bach, Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt or the painters Lucas Cranach and Otto Dix.

Luther's Wartburg Castle, Weimar German Classics Heritage and the Bauhaus count among the protected sites of the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage. The Thuringian events calendar is very full: with cultural and arts highlights such as the Erfurt Cathedral Steps Festival, the Thuringian Bach Weeks or Weimar Summer Festival through to the various historic castle and medieval festivals. But there is also a great deal on offer outside of towns and cities of Thuringia: for example during the concert summer in the Thalbuergel Monastery Church or at the Kochberg Castle Theatre. See traditional crafts, attractive museums and sights off the beaten track, such as the “Thuringian Fried Sausage Museum” near Gotha or the “Adventure Mines” in Merkers.

Thuringia – fascinating world of ChristmasChristmas tree decorations were first blown in Lauscha, famous Christmas music comes from here, while numerous Christmas Markets – such as the Erfurt Christmas Market or the historic Christmas Market on the Wartburg have become great attractions.

Discovering Thuringia by themed toursMany different themed tours cross Thuringia. The most popular tourist route links the most interesting towns of importance in the arts and culture including Eisenach the Wartburg town, Thuringia’s medieval state capital Erfurt, Weimar the home of the German Classics, Meiningen the theatre town or the Goethe town Ilmenau.

2015 and 2016 celebrates great exhibitions. 2015 at Wartburg Castle Eisenach, Friedenstein Castle Gotha and Schiller-Museum Weimar: "Reformation, Art and Bilbe - Cranach 2015 in Thuringia". 2016: "The Ernestines" with exhibitions at Friedenstein Castle in Gotha and in Weimar. The Luther Decade also offers further exhibitions, events and concerts in preparation for the 500th anniversary in 2017.

Health, Active and Nature

Health and wellness offersThe clear proof of the fact that Thuringia is a wonderful place to really relax and bring both body and mind into great shape is the enormous number of highly modern health baths and spas that are available. A great number of healing springs, bogs and mineral sources and a very pleasing and healthy climate are among the reasons why Thuringia has become a truly popular and well equipped place to bathe.

20 health baths and spas ranging from the fresh air baths of the Thuringian Forest to the fashionable spas for taking the waters await health-conscious guests. Among the most famous are Bad Sulza, Bad Liebenstein, Bad Salzungen and Bad Langensalza. Outstanding wellness hotels, unique hot springs, experience fun pools and baths, modern rehabilitation clinics and very inviting wellness package deals have turned the Thuringian health resorts, springs and spas into exactly what health and relaxation seekers are looking for. The Celtic Baths in Bad Salzungen, the Tuscany Thermal Baths with Liquid Sound® in Bad Sulza, the Friederiken Hot Springs in Bad Langensalza or the Avenida Thermal Baths in Hohenfelden offer wellness in a very special atmosphere, as do the listed hotels.

Thuringias Wellness hotels

Golf & Spa Hotel Weimarer Land in Blankenhain

Ramada Hotel Friedrichroda

Bio-Seehotel Zeulenroda

kultur.hotel kaiserhof Bad Liebenstein

Berghotel Oberhof

Best Western Hotel am Vitalpark Heilbad Heiligenstadt

Hotel Residenz Bad Frankenhausen

Thuringia’s finest hot spring

Tuscany Thermal Baths Bad Sulza (Liquid Sound Trademark)

Nature and activitiesA highly varied landscape with mountains of up to nearly 1,000 m in height, endless lovely meadows and ever-lasting stretches of forests, nature parks such as the Thuringian Forest or the UNESCO World Natural Heritage Hainich National Park, UNESCO Biosphere reserves Vessertal and Rhön, the Harz Mountains, rivers, lakes and dams: Thuringia, is all of this and much more. In addition to the famous Rennsteig hiking trail, there are many other paths that delight the heart of any hiker. A unique experience is follwoing routes once walked by famous people like M. Luther, J. S. Bach or J. W. von Goethe. The Hiking and Pilgramage Trail, marked with a capital "L", covers about 1.000 km in Thuringia and links Luther's places of works and important reformation venues.

2015 a state garden show with magnificent flower shows and recreational landscapes will take place in Schmalkalden. 2016, a special theme year will focus on the beautiful National Nature Landscapes in Thuringia.

Thuringia is also the state of top athletes and world champions and offers a thousand ways of spending an active holiday in natural surroundings. Take a boat trip on one of Thuringia’s dam lakes, pay an exciting visit to a show mine or a world-cup game, play golf, feel like a ski jumper, discover the countryside in a historic train – this is all possible!

Still, Thuringia is a paradise for hikers in the first place. Certified hiking trails (i.e. the Goethe and biking trails (4* trails along the rivers Ilm and Werra) and many certified accommodation offers are a guarantee for that.

MICE

Conferring at the heart of Germany

Congresses and Conferences with a quality promiseThuringia offers extraordinary and modern opportunities for meetings, whether in a cutting-edge exhibition centre or in the emperor’s hall in Erfurt, at the Congress Centre of the new Weimarhalle in Weimar or the five star Hotel at Wartburg Castle.

These venues are not only all backed up by outstanding conference hotels and tempting incentive programmes – A conference in Thuringia always has the unbeatable attraction of combining superbly well with cultural highlights and events, for example in Weimar with a visit the homes of Goethe and Schiller or in Eisenach the Wartburg Castle, both UNESCO World Heritage Sights.

Further reasons for conferring in Thuringia are the unbeatable value for money, the close link between culture, business and science in Thuringia plus the ideal geographical situation in the centre of Germany.

Special attention should also be paid to various opportunities to visit innovative companies such as Kahla Porcelain, the Köstritzer Black Beer Brewery, or Carl Zeiss Jena.

Nearly 40 partners, including congress and conference centres, convention towns, conference hotels and incentive agencies are presented in a Conference Planner and subject to a stringent quality process.

Group Offers

Selection of group offersImaginative and unique programmes are available for parties all over Thuringia. There is a wealth of different alternatives – getting to know Thuringia in an unusual way, enjoying exceptional cultural performances, tackling challenges in the great outdoors together or experiencing a stylish event.

Programmes associated with the tasty and varied Thuringian cuisine are particularly popular, because, after all, food and drink keep body and soul together! In many cases, the focus is not just culinary enjoyment but also preparing dishes oneself – an enthralling experience with a longlasting effect.

The programmes listed are a selection of what is available in Thuringia. The minimum number of participants depends on the programme; however, most of the programmes are also suitable for small parties.

Exciting

Classical Music underwater in Bad Sulza

When a fairy meets a miner in Saalfeld

Christmas tree decoration workshop in Lauscha

Historical

Erfurts fine surroundings

Into the past with a historic railway in the Thuringian Forest

3D-Journey into the Middle Ages in Schmalkalden

Mühlhausen and the Reformation

Natural

Guided tour with ranger at Hainich National Park and the Tree-top trail

HIking and cycling tour (with luggage transfers)

Culinary

Luther Meal in Eisenach

Wine in the Tuscany of the East

The Viba NOUGAT-World

A culinary town walk in Altenburg

The Thuringian organisers have many more attractive ideas for parties and will be pleased to put together tailor-made programme

Barrier-free Travel

Over the last years, offers for barrier-free travel in Thuringia have increased significantly. Many towns offer special sightseeing tours and many attractions can be visited by disabled guests. Don't hesitate to request our barrier-free brochures.

Towns with special sightseeing tours (selection)

Altenburg

Arnstadt

Eisenach

Erfurt

Gera

Heilbad Heiligenstadt

Jena

Nordhausen

Sondershausen

Suhl

Weimar

Bad Langensalza

Attractions with special offers (selection)

Bach Church Arnstadt

Tuscany Thermal Baths Bad Sulza

Bach House Eisenach

Cathedral St. Mary and Old Synagogue Erfurt

Treetop Trail at Hainich National Park

Rennsteig Mountain Plants Garden Oberhof

„Morassina“ Visitor Mine with sauna

Duchess Anna Amalia Library Weimar

Erfurt: Barrier-free city destinationThuringia’s capital is a leading destination for accessible city breaks. Central to this is a comprehensive set of guided tours for visitors with restricted mobility, blind and partially sighted people, deaf people, those with hearing impairments, and guests with learning disabilities. Blind visitors can enjoy a Braille city guide book with relief illustrations describing Erfurt’s attractions or the tactile model of Erfurt’s old quarter. Erfurt also has plenty of leisure activities on offer, for example the scent and touch garden for blind and partially sighted people on the grounds of the “egapark”. Additionally numerous hotels provide a special service for guests with reduced mobility. Public transport is also largely barrier-free.

In 2017, Thuringia will become Germany’s new high-speed train hub: Erfurt will serve as the new railway nexus for the high-speed “ICE” trains traveling along the East German rail axis, thereby significant reducing travel times to Munich, Berlin, Frankfurt/Main and Dresden.